Weapon X
by Dragonhulk
Summary: Xander meets the nice folks in the Weapon X program.
1. Default Chapter

Weapon X

Author: Dragonhulk

Disclaimer: I own nothing and get no money from writing this. If you are one of the people that own the characters I'm using and like the story contact me and we can work something out.

Summary: Xander is kidnapped by the Weapon X during his summer road trip.

Rating: FRT-13.

Author's Note: Messing with the X-Men movie timeline, but probably nothing too extreme.

Part One: Conversations in a Bar

Xander was tired, hungry, and the happiest he had been in years. The reason for his new found joy was simple; he was in northern New York and the Hellmouth with its entire demon problems were on the other side of the country in California.

"Hey chuckles, stop grinning and get back in here! I pay you to help me serve drinks, not stand outside!"

Ah, trust a boss to ruin a good mood. Dave may not be the best employer but he paid in cash under the table, and at the moment cash was what Xander needed. Well Dave's tendency to pay in cash may have more to do with the fact that Xander was under twenty one and couldn't legally work in a bar, but Xander was earning good money with tips, so he wasn't going to complain.

Getting back behind the bar Xander wasn't surprised to see Dave flirting with a customer and talking to his friends, so that left Xander to deal with everyone else. Luckily at the moment everyone else just consisted of Ted, who was already drunk, and a new guy.

After dropping off another bottle of Jack Daniels for Ted for when he woke up, Xander went over to take the new guy's order.

"Hey, my name is Xander and I will be giving you your booze today." Yeah it was over the top but it was his last day and he would be different today if he felt like it.

To his credit new guy just raised an eyebrow and asked for a beer. While working on the draft Xander kept one eye on the clock. 12:59; if he held true to form, Ted should wake up right about…

"Mutants! It's all their fault! They're meeting in secret, trying to come up with new ways to screw us working folks over."

Xander chuckled as he thought over what he planned for Ted. Seeing the open look of disgust on the new guy's face, he decided to try to strike up a conversation, just to pass the time until last call.

"You can ignore Ted, we all do." Xander's attempt was met with little more than a grunt from the new guy.

Usually Xander would take the hint and leave the customer alone, but he was drunk on the idea of being on the road again so he decided to start Operation: Mess With Ted's Mind early.

"Hey Ted, I got a mutie for you to rant about for awhile!" Xander noticed that the new guy's grip tightened on the table but otherwise remain the same.

"Who is he! Who is the stinking mutie, and more importantly, where is he!"

"Well Ted, he is someone known by everyone here if they admit to it or not, in fact he is in the bar right now." At this the new guy sat back in a position that made Xander's inner army guy scream to play this carefully.

"Who is he! Tell me, and I'll take him with my own hands!" So saying Ted stood up to his full five feet two inches, and flexed what muscles were on his thin one hundred and twenty pound frame.

"It's you, Ted."

Ted simply blinked a few times trying to process what he had been told before asking, "What?"

Xander smiled, Ted had taken the bait. "Think about it Ted. Every night you wake up and start ranting about mutants at one a.m. on the dot. If that isn't one of those dangerous mutant powers you are always talking about I don't know what is."

As he delivered his punch line, the rest of the bar burst out laughing; even the new guy started to chuckle. Confident that he was indeed the class clown despite what the student council said Xander took a bow and then took a seat with the new guy.

"I've wanted to do that ever since I started working here," Xander told the new guy.

"So why didn't you do it before now?"

"Today is my last day. Ted is a rich regular that drops a lot of money here, so when he comes back tomorrow Dave can honestly tell him that I don't work here anymore."

"Decent of ya kid. Also got to say it's interesting to meet someone who doesn't hate and fear mutants."

"Never said I wasn't afraid of mutants, I'd have to be nuts not to be afraid of them. As for the hating part, I just haven't met any mutants that I know of yet. If I met every mutant in the world I'm sure that I would hate some of them and some of them would hate me, it's just how things work."

"Mind explaining that fearing mutants part a bit more?"

"Sure thing, Mr..?"

"Logan, just Logan."

Xander grinned, he loved doing this. When he talked to a stranger he could be whoever he wanted to be. Back in Sunnydale he was and always would be the lovable yet slightly goofy Xander Harris, and was expected to only have conversations that lovable yet slightly goofy people have, but here he could talk in any way and not have people give him looks of shock that he had deep thoughts.

"Think about it Logan, everyone wants to feel safe. That is why we put locks on everything and have cameras everywhere, so we can protect ourselves and continue to feel safe. Now mutants come, and some of them can break down any door or move so fast that cameras can't catch them on film. They can do all of these things and no one feels safe any more, so we start being afraid." Xander smiled openly when he saw a spark of understanding in Logan's eye. Then just as soon as it had formed the spark turned from one of understanding to one of rage.

"So what's your solution then, round up all the mutants and put them somewhere out of the way so people can feel safe?"

Xander decided to work his response carefully. Logan's voice was little more than a growl at the end, and Logan's growl reminded Xander just a bit too much of his hyena possession. "That was a knee jerk reaction by some senator. As far as I'm concerned, humanity has two options. Either we start building better locks and cameras or somehow we build a better society, one that doesn't need locks and cameras."

Logan sat back and considered Xander's words before deciding that there wasn't any thing there go get upset about. "You better start investing in a new lock bub, because I doubt that people are going to change to fit that society you explained any time soon." With that Logan paid for the beer and left Xander a decent tip before taking off on his motorcycle.

Xander sighed and started to clean up. Last call was in fifteen minutes, and with a bit of luck Dave would let him out with full pay early. Well unless things started to go bad, but what bad, were the chances of that happening this far from the Hellmouth.

Outside two figures waited in a van. They had detected a mutant signature here right before their equipment had failed. Standard operating procedures dictated that they mark everyone in the bar and then follow them to see if any demonstrated mutant powers. They were to continue with this course of action until a technician could be dispatched to their location to fix the short range mutant locator.

They were professionals and they will follow their commands with little to no deviation. They would keep an eye on the people in the bar and the first one to do something remotely mutant like would be brought back to base with them or terminated, no exception.


	2. Maybe God does hate him

Part Two: Perhaps God does hate him.

It had been two days sense Xander had decided that God did indeed hate him. Back in Sunnydale he could blame the Hellmouth for this stuff, but there was no Hellmouth that he knew of here. He couldn't blame it, and that brought him back that somehow he had pissed off God or at least a god.

Now in what had become a rare moment of quiet, Xander once again thought on how he had gotten into this position.

He had just gotten paid by Dave, with enough money to keep him going on the road for another three weeks when he had seen a sight that he hadn't seen since leaving Sunnydale. Walking to the bar with a confidant stride was what looked like a vampire.

Deciding to be sure Xander palmed a small cross in one hand and put the other around the stake hidden in the sleeve of his jacket. Figuring that if it was a vamp he was probably looking for drunk, easy targets, Xander assumed the role.

"Hey man, how ya doing? Been a long time" said Xander with a slight slur in his voice. He had never seen the person in front of him before, but a vampire or other predator would attempt to use Xander's drunken confusion to their advantage.

"Yeah, it has been a while hasn't it" said the man with a hungry look in his eyes.

Xander was now almost convinced that the man in front of him was a vampire; it was time for the final test. "Put her there pal, you're my besh friend" said Xander as he extended the hand that held the small silver cross.

As the man took the hand his face twisted into the demonic visage of a vampire over the pain caused by the cross.

As soon as the man's face began to change, Xander was moving, pulling the vampire towards him while the creature was off balance. His plan worked and the vampire fell towards Xander, letting Xander quickly put a stake through its heart.

Xander was feeling good about himself when he was blinded by the headlights from van he hadn't noticed before.

Before he recovered he was pounced on by two figures. At first they shot what could only be described as a taser gun at him. As the electric current brought Xander to his knees the other figure was firing a dart him.

Years of living with his parents, and later fighting with Buffy had taught Xander to ignore and work through pain. This fact, and perhaps a bit of luck was all that allowed him to dodge the dart.

Deciding that the best course of action would be to run away like a frightened child, Xander went into the woods behind Dave's bar. He knew that his attackers would follow, but the trees would provide precious cover and perhaps even give him a chance of escape.

Xander grimaced both at the memories of the two days that followed and at the grub that was attempting to make its way back up his throat. No matter what trick he had pulled in the last two days he hadn't been able to loose his attackers for more than a couple of hours.

His instincts, the last remnants of his Halloween spent as a soldier had let him survive, letting him know what plants and creatures were safe to eat, and ways to mask his trail. Unfortunately those same instincts were telling him that there was no way he could win.

The people that were hunting him like an animal had him out manned, out gunned, and were better trained than he was. All of this added up to one dead Xander, unless somehow God decided to grant him a miracle, but Xander wasn't holding his breath.

No, he knew there wouldn't be any divine intervention to help him; he was completely on his own right now. His only hope was to make his way through the woods into another town and tell the others what was happening. With any luck they would be able to find him and help before it was too late.

Deciding that he had been in one place long enough, Xander began to move in the direction he hoped the next town was in. He hadn't taken more than five steps when he felt a slight sting in the back of his neck. Reaching behind him Xander pulled out a dart that he assumed was full of sedatives.

As the darkness began to engulf Xander's mind, he turned to face his attackers in a last show of defiance. He saw two figures covered from head to toe in black, their faces hidden by masks coming at him with restraints in hand, and he couldn't be sure but it almost seemed as if they were smirking under their masks.

They didn't say anything as they waited for the drugs to take effect on their prey. They were simply dark shadows waiting with infinite patience. Xander was sure that they would have waited until the end of time for him to fall, but he knew that he couldn't hold off the drugs in his system as long.

Deciding to take the offensive Xander took one step forward, and promptly fell. As he reached the ground Xander continued to fall into the darkness, into a place where he could fool himself into thinking he was safe and loved.

Xander was only slightly aware of the feeling of cold metal as it covered his hands, and then he was aware of nothing at all.


	3. Abandon all hope ye who enter here

Part Three: Abandon all hope ye who enter here.

Awareness came slowly to Xander. At first he felt slightly confused when he found he couldn't move. That feeling gave way to panic as the memories of the last two days began to return.

Pushing down his panic, Xander forced himself to lay still. He could hear voices, if they thought he was still asleep he may pick out something useful.

"So Mark, what do you think they will name this one?" said one vaguely familiar voice.

"Don't know, probably something stupid like Deathtouch, or Wither, or something like that. Heck I think those science boys enjoy making the stupidest name they can for these animals, Dave," said another voice, presumably Mark.

"What do you think, boy?" asked Dave. Xander let time pass, hoping to find out who the first person was, when he was punched in the stomach. The blow drove the wind from this body and forced his eyes open in shock.

"I asked you a question, boy," said Dave. "Unless your mutie powers turned your brain to dust, I expect an answer."

"Don't be too hard on him. The dumb animal probably thought his sleeping act was fooling us." said Mark with a sneer in his voice.

"Dumb animal is right, Mark," replied Dave. "Lets get something straight, you mutant piece of trash. We are professionals. This means that we are better than you in every way, even with your powers. We capture freaks like you on a regular basis and if you give us a hard time we will let the docs dissect you alive."

"No more time for talking, we're here. Get the pole so we can get him into processing." said Mark as the van pulled to a stop. Dave left while Mark pointed a gun at Xander. "This is how it's going to work, mutie, so listen because I'm only going to tell you once. Dave is going to open the door and prepare you for transport. If you give us any trouble I will shoot you and then drag you down a flight of stairs face first as an added punishment. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes." wheezed Xander. He still hadn't recovered from the blow, and it didn't look like things would improve.

"Good," said Mark just as Dave opened the back doors. Mark and Dave didn't have to exchange a single word as Mark exited the van. Both knew that Dave would shoot Xander if he tried anything. Soon Xander felt something attach to his hand shackles. "Go where the tug directs you to go," said Mark from behind Xander.

Soon Xander was being led down a blank hall. After a while Xander realized that while he felt tugs from behind him Mark and Dave's footsteps were a ways behind him.

"I guess you were serious about that pole remark weren't you," said Xander. He kept his tone light, hoping to get some information that he could use later.

"It's good for speedsters and teleporters. Either the freak brings along the person holding the pole or the freak leaves a large chunk of them selves behind," said Mark.

Not really helpful, but Xander could tell from Marks tone that he wouldn't say anything else. Xander allowed himself to be led the rest of the way in silence. Mark and Dave were always behind him, so even if he wanted to try something they were always out or reach and sight. After a few minutes of this, Xander was forced to a wall with a speaker in it.

"Abilities shown so far?" came a cold, detached voice from the speaker.

"We saw him turn two people into dust." said Mark.

"Information entered. Subject is now designated Ash."

"My name is Xander." said Xander. He knew it was stupid as soon as he had said it, but this was beginning to sound too much like what happened to Buffy when she was in that hell dimension.

"Guard," said the voice. Next thing Xander knew he was on the floor with a blinding pain in his head, and Mark standing over him pointing a gun at him. "Your past life is irrelevant, you are now Ash. Failure to respond to this or response to another designate will be severely punished. You will now proceed to decontamination and then to cell number 485."

The less said about decontamination the better, but Xander survived it to be half led half dragged into his cell. Looking around, the first thing Xander noticed was the figure in the shadows; not too surprising considering that in Sunnydale you always have to notice the figure in the shadows first, or you die. Deciding that it would probably be a good idea to be nice to the other inmates, Xander decided to introduce himself. "Hey roomy, names Xander, what's yours?"

Leaning into the light Xander was shocked by what he saw. The man's pupils were bright red, almost glowing, while the rest of his eyes were pitch black. "Call me Gambit," said the man with a slight Cajun accent. "On behalf of the dammed, welcome t' Hell."


	4. What's up Doc?

Part Four: What's up Doc?

Xander hated doctors. Doctors were the ones that gave painful shots or gave him awful tasting medicine when he was a kid. As he has grown up that hate had began to recede, but it was fast returning. Then again that hate could have more to do with the guns pointed at him than the doctors.

"Interesting, I can't seem to get a genetic map from your blood," said the doctor that was currently examining Xander. "It would appear that in addition to being able to turn people to dust you have impressive defiance capabilities."

"Or your machine could be broken," said Xander.

"No I assure you that our machines are working just fine. You are simply emitting a previously unknown type of radiation that is blocking our scanners. In fact it is so feint that I could almost believe it was something you were exposed to, if it weren't for the tape."

"What tape?" asked Xander.

In response the doctor pressed a button and a monitor flickered to life. On the tape Xander could clearly make out his face as the vampire he had killed burst into dust.

"I don't suppose you would believe me if I said that the person was a vampire and I don't have any powers," said Xander. Inwardly he made a silent vow to kill whatever power had set him up. There was no way his luck could be this bad away from the Hellmouth.

"I deal in facts, not fantasy. You would do well not to insult my intelligence like that again," said the doctor in an ice cold tone. "Now if you would be so good as to list what powers you possess I can allow you to go back to your cell."

"You really should get your ears checked doc, I told you I don't have any."

"I had so hoped that you would be intelligent about this, if only to break up the routine you animals put me through," said the doctor with a sigh before pressing another button. "Guards, send in subject Secret to exam four."

A few minutes later Xander saw a site that made his blood boil. In his mind there was simply no way a small girl should be in a place like this with a gun held to her head.

"Before we get started let me introduce you two. Secret here is a touch telepath that discovered her powers a year ago on her eleventh birthday, and she has been using her powers for us for the last eight months. When she uses her powers on mutants the experience is quite painful for both parties.

"You don't look like a person that enjoys bringing pain to small children Ash so I'm offering you one last chance to willingly tell us what you know."

"I told you already I don't have any powers," said Xander while he prayed to convince the doctor. After all if they sent someone poking in his head they would know he didn't have powers, but they would also know about his friends that did have powers.

The doctor simply nodded towards the girl, and she started to advance towards Xander. When her cool hand touched Xanders head, he was surprised to find himself with a splitting headache.

Screaming in pain Secret fell to the ground, blood flowing from her nose and eyes.

"What did you see," said the doctor with no hint of emotion in his voice.

"A man and a doggie hurt me in there Uncle Nick," said Secret in little more than a whisper.

"Take her back to her cell until she can try again," said the doctor in the same emotionless voice.

"She's your niece?" asked Xander through the throbbing in his head.

"Of course she is. How else did you think we found out about her so quickly?"

"You're evil," said Xander while doing his best not to attempt to kill the doctor.

The doctor simply sighed and said, "I would have hoped that a physical evolution in mankind would provoke an intellectual evolution beyond such concepts as good and evil."

"Doc, there are monsters out there, and most of them wouldn't bring their own relatives to a place like this. In my opinion that makes you the worst of the worst."

"Oh my, you words have somehow moved me and caused me to revaluate myself," said the doctor sarcastically, showing the first signs of emotion that Xander had seen. "Now I suggest that you get some rest, as you have forced us to resort to drastic means to discover your physical powers."

"This mean that you aren't going to play Frankenstein with my mutant mind?" asked Xander. He may not be able to beat the man into a bloody pulp, but he could still be an annoyance if he wanted to.

"Believe me Ash, nothing would please me more," the doctor said, being sure to emphasize the name he had been given. "Unfortunately for me one of my colleagues is in charge of handling those with mental powers. This however doesn't mean that I can't enjoy forcing you to manifest your physical powers."

Twenty minutes later as Xander once again picked himself off the floor he wondered just how much the doctor was enjoying this. They were forcing him to fight a mutant in some kind of training area.

Of course the term fight was being used quite loosely. In reality it consisted of Xander getting the snot kicked out of him by some kind of blur.

"Enough Quicksilver," said a voice from the speakers. "It is obvious Ash doesn't have projectile powers, or he would have used them in your battle. As a reward, you may spend five minutes with your sister tonight."

Soon after the voice had spoken the blur solidified enough that Xander could now identify it as a man with silver hair. The man looked almost broken as he was led out of the arena, hopefully to have five minutes of joy with his sister.

Finally deciding that it wasn't worth the effort he was putting into it, Xander let the darkness consume him. The last thing he heard before slipping into a world without pain was the doctor calling for a surgeon.


	5. Ghosts in the Machines

Part Five: Ghosts in the Machines

Xander was dieing. He could feel one of his shattered ribs cutting into his lung, filling his breath with blood. He would have laughed if it wasn't so painful.

Slowly, amazingly Xander felt his wounds begin to heal themselves. Bones set and knitted as good as new, while flesh was molded like clay into what it had once been.

Opening his once swollen eyes Xander saw a girl. She was bruised, swollen, and spat blood every time she took a ragged breath, but there was something familiar about her.

"Secret?" asked Xander in a soft voice.

"No, her sister Surgeon," came the doctors cold voice. "Take a good look Ash, because she is the one that will make sure that you will never leave here on your own violation."

"What are you talking about?" said Xander as he watched Surgeon begin to heal.

"Surgeon can heal any injury inflicted by you during the course of testing, or by your own hand. With her at our disposal, death only comes when asked."

With growing fear Xander realized the truth to the doctors words. This is how they had broken the man he had fought. Quicksilver must have been broken and mended so often that life had become as much of a prison as the rest of the building.

Xander was about to grab Surgeon and make a break for it when he noticed the guards. Each was heavily armed and wouldn't hesitate to shoot him.

"Guards, escort Ash to the mess hall and take Surgeon back to her cell."

"Don't worry, I'll be back for you," promised Xander as the guards led him out.

The mess hall seemed to be something out of a science fiction movie. Everywhere Xander looked there were amazing creatures eating a verity of food. If it wasn't for the armed guards, and dead atmosphere, Xander could have let himself geek out.

"Ash," said a familiar voice to his right. Turning Xander saw Gambit coming toward him. "Come sit with me, and I'll introduce you."

"Okay," said Xander when he decided that he was probably safer with Gambit.

Once they had both gotten a grey paste for their meal Gambit began to talk, "The Indian with the grey temples is Forge, but everyone else calls him Traitor."

"Wait, what Indian," asked Xander when he didn't see the person Gambit described.

"De one who is eating his meal in a home instead of a hell," said Gambit with venom in his voice. "He's a mutant like you and me, but he sold out. He is the one dat built the device they use to find us, and he is building more."

"A mutant that helps put other mutants here. Yeah, I can see how Traitor would work," said Xander with equal venom. Okay, he may not be a mutant, but putting anyone here was just wrong.

Nodding Gambit continued, "Over dere is Goose."

"Goose!" exclaimed Xander. The blond Gambit had indicated didn't resemble a goose in any way. In fact she looked cute.

"Goose," repeated Gambit. "As in de goose dat laid de golden egg. De people here force her to make skins of gold and diamonds to fund dis place."

"Skins. Do they skin her alive or something?" asked Xander.

Gambit nodded and said, "Dat's what de guards say. According to dem dey skin her once a week, if dey need de money or not to keep her in line."

Over the next hour Gambit told Xander about everyone in the cafeteria from the guy with angel wings, to the boy with red eyes.

"Where is Quicksilver though?" asked Xander when he didn't see the man who had almost killed him.

"Nother cell block," said Gambit as he finished his paste. "Everyone here are just our neighbors."

"There must be fifty people here. How many people do they have?" asked Xander.

"More dan fifty," responded Gambit. "Beyond that, who knows? Way I here it is dey even have a real live witch."

Xander grimaced at that piece of information. If they were going after supernatural creatures as well as mutants, things could be much worse than he thought. The witch could be someone he knew, Amy, or maybe even Willow.

As the thought that Willow, his Willow could be going through the same pain as him settled, Xanders mind began to go down a new path.

"Has anyone ever tried to break out of here with all these cool powers?" asked Xander, a plan forming in his mind.

Gambits black and red eyes took on a haunted look as he said, "Don't try it, it's not worth dealing with de guards."

"Right now I'm not that worried about some grunts with guns," said Xander.

"There are worse things out there then men with guns," said Gambit with an effort to suppress his accent. The look in his eyes seemed to scream to Xander to understand how important it was that he not ask any more questions.

Xander nodded, indicating that he under stood. He could wait for now. He couldn't wait very long with the possibility of Willow being in danger, but he could wait for now.

That night Xander's dreams were assaulted by strange images. A burning rock star kept trying to talk to him, but was stopped by a dog with a gun and a furry soldier. Xander knew the rock star had something important to say, but he was afraid of the flames.

These dreams continued in one form or another all through the night, until the rock star left. While Xander wouldn't be able to say how he knew, he still knew that the flaming rock star would be back the next night.


	6. Steve Austin never looked like this

Part Six: Steve Austin never looked like this.

Xander had been stuck in hell for seven days. Seven days of physical tests that pushed him to the point of death, and seven nights filled with screaming and strange dreams. After seven days, Xander had decided one way or another there wouldn't be an eighth.

For the last three days he had been pretending to be weaker then he felt after Surgeon healed him. Today as the guards were relaxed Xander made his move.

Grabbing the larger guard escorting him back to his cell Xander smashed his knee into the mans face. Then using every skill he had picked up in three years Slaying Xander spun around, punching the second guard in the throat, sending the second man down for the count. Keeping his momentum up Xander turned and kicked the recovering guard in the side of the head, aiming for the temple region.

As soon as he was sure the two men were down Xander began to run. He had spent seven days finding out the quickest path from the arena to the gates by what he overheard from guards and inmates. He figured he had another thirty seconds before an alarm went off, and then another seven minutes of a full sprint until he reached the gate.

For once luck seemed to be with him as things went according to plan. The alarm went of and thirty seconds after that Xander ran into a wall of men with guns. Xander never slowed down as the men opened fire, he simply followed his instincts and dropped to the ground.

As soon as he went to the ground he started to slide with a form that would make a professional baseball player jealous. Smiling at the fact that this wouldn't even be possible without the suit he had been given to protect the guards from his powers Xander plowed into a guard, knocking him over.

Without wasting any time Xander took the knife from the boot of the guard and plunged it between his captors legs. This action not only made one guard completely incapacitated, but shocked the second guard hesitating.

To his credit the second guard didn't hesitate long, just a few seconds. Luckily for Xander a few seconds was all he needed to deliver another throat punch.

Pausing only long enough to take guns, explosives, and gas masks from the guards, Xander resumed his run toward the gate.

The next few minutes were war as Xander made his way towards the gate. By the time he reached them he was almost completely covered in the blood of guards, as well as his own.

When he finally reached his goal Xander wasn't surprised to find that the console that controlled the gate had been turned off. Xander had expected them to do this and was prepared.

While the gate would be hard to penetrate from the outside, it had some major weaknesses on the inside. Weaknesses that Xander had spent five days figuring out how to exploit.

Placing the grenades he had stolen in very specific positions Xander pulled the pins and ran for cover behind the console.

The following explosions was deafening, but the following sound made Xanders heart leap in joy and do the Snoopy Dance. The second sound was the gate falling inward, and opening a way to freedom.

As Xander sprinted out into the freezing weather he thought about the promise he had made to himself to take some of the other mutants with him. Shaking his head he assured himself that he would keep the promise as soon as he came back with reinforcements.

Searching for the best way to run Xander spotted a lone guard running toward him. As he watched the one man became two, then four, then sixteen. At this point Xander decided to run any way that would take him away from the thirty-two men.

Stumbling, falling, and sliding on the snow Xander cursed himself as he left a trail a mile wide to be followed. There was no way he would be able to loose the freaking multiplying man like this. He needed to calm down, remember the skills he had learned when he was possessed during Halloween.

Forcing his breath to even out as he ran, Xander felt his calm return to him. When he saw one of the multiple men up ahead he even believed that he could take him out.

This fantasy was promptly obliterated when the multiple man raised his arm and fired something that shattered to Xanders left. Xander could almost physically feel his inner piece shatter with the rock.

When he slid down the hill and into the man Xander finally got a good look at his pursuer, and almost lost his lunch. The man was a boy, no older than sixteen, that had all his limbs cut off and replaced with some kind of cybernetic implants.

The limbs didn't look like anything seen on TV or in the movies. The things grafted to the kid were ugly, hard looking things, and Xander could almost hear the metal scraping against the boys bones.

"Kill me," rasped the boy, even as a metallic limb slammed into Xander causing another duplicate to appear.

This is how Xander met the darkness, in an ever increasing storm of blows with his attacker begging for death.


	7. A Sinister Meeting

Part Seven: A Sinister Meeting

Xander sat in pain as once again as Surgeon healed him. It had been the same routine for a week, the guards would beat him in the night, leave him, and have Surgeon heal him in the morning. Maybe he shouldn't have stabbed that one guy in the crotch.

"Thanks for keeping me alive last night," Xander said to the only other occupant in the room once the guards had left.

"Pleasure was all mine. 'Sides if you die, who will play cards wit after we all escape," returned Gambit, completing the routine that had developed over the last week.

Xander was about to reply when the door slid open, revealing the guard that had beaten him last night, and a man in a doctor's coat. Perhaps it was three years fighting vampires, but the chalk white skin and blood red eyes gave the doctor a truly sinister appearance.

"Get moving Ash, Dr. Essex here wants to talk with you," said the guard with a bit of fear in his voice.

Having his suspicions confirmed Xander decided to do his best to try to get under the doctors skin. If previous experiences with the doctors here were any indication this guy was worse than a vampire, and it was his job as a Scooby to annoy him until he could put a stake through his heart.

"What's up Doc?" asked Xander in his best Bugs Bunny voice.

"We are going to ascertain the extent of your telepathic powers. If they prove sufficient to my needs you will be transferred to one of my special projects groups," said Dr. Essex in a cold voice.

"Gee Doc, sounds great, just one question though. Why aren't you locked up with all us other mutants?"

This comment seemed to get a reaction out of the doctor. "What, exactly, do you mean?" said the doctor in a low dangerous tone.

"Oh I don't know, it may be because you look more like a vampire than a human. If you smile, I bet I could even spot your fangs," said Xander with a grin, even though the guard looked like he was about to start beating him again.

"A vampire, that's a first. To answer your question I'm an albino."

"And the difference between the genes making you a freak, and the genes making everyone else in here a freak would be?"

"The difference is, I'm the one standing out side of the cages," said Dr. Essex with a dark smile as they entered a room, a room where Xander would do a lot of screaming.

* * *

As Xander was once again guided to the land of sleep by the fists of a guard. As he slept, he dreamed his newly recurring dream.

There was the rock star made from flame, and the strange dog-soldiers. If this one was like the others the two dog-soldiers would keep the flame man away until the guards heal him in the morning.

Perhaps it was the monotony of the dream, or his day with Dr. Essex, but Xander wondered what would happen if the flaming rock star got past the dog-soldiers. As soon as he thought about it, the two guardians moved to the side, and let the man through.

"Thanks for letting me in," said the burning star of a man.

"Yeah well, I figure I should be kinder to my pain induced dreams," said Xander as he sat on a shadow.

"I'm not a bloody dream; I'm a mutant like you. My name is Jonothan Starsmore, I'm stuck in some bleeding chamber powering this place," said the irate mutant.

"Okay, makes about as much sense as everything else in my life lately," said Xander.

"Listen, you saw what they did to the poor bugger that could duplicate 'emself. That's what they do here, find a use for mutants, or kill them. They decided my use would be providing them with free power they couldn't be cut of from," said Jonothan.

"That doesn't explain why your visiting me," said Xander in an even tone.

"Out of everyone here you are the only one who can't have his mind read by the brain in a jar," said Jonothan, causing Xander to shudder as he remembered his first meeting with Martha. "Add to that the fact that you made it outside when you attempted to escape, and I think we have a lot to talk about."

"So your planning a prison break. Sorry to tell you this, but I haven't been able to come up with much of a plan to get myself out, forget about getting anyone else out as well."

"That's where I come in," said a woman who was made out of knowledge. "I can come up with a plan, but we need you to help."

"Why me?" asked Xander.

"Like I said, you are the only one who can't have his mind read. We need to store our memories, and the memories of the others in your head," said Jonothan.

"So you need to dump stuff into my empty noggin. You mind telling me what will happen if you dump too much in?" asked Xander.

"You suffer major brain damage, die, and we start over," said info woman.

"Is that all," said Xander, feeling less than assured about this particular plan. On the other hand if he didn't do it his friends could be in danger. "So long as you don't put anything major in there, like the question that goes to the answer 42, we should all be good."

"In that case, lets see who else would like to join in," said Jonothan.

In moments Xanders head was filled with thousands of wronged prisoners demanding to be able to dish back a fraction of the pain they had suffered.


	8. Painful Planning

Part Eight: Painful Planning

Xander rolled to the right to avoid the barrage of razor sharp feathers that attempted to make him a non-Xander shaped pincushion.

He knew his opponent as Warren Worthington, a nice if somewhat stuck up guy that had committed himself to being air support during the breakout. Of course it would have been nice if he had mentioned that his angel like wings had been replaced by metallic ones that shot razor blades.

Xander had been trying to end this with little injury to either party, but considering that Warren's last blast of fire was aimed at his head, he was becoming less and less concerned about not shedding any blood. Considering the fact that Surgeon was probably waiting to fix them up, a bit of bloodshed may be therapeutic.

Picking up one of Warrens fired feathers, and quickly threw it at the flyers central mass. Unfortunately Xander had never done well when throwing things, so instead of hitting the chest or stomach, the blade sunk in right between the blond flyers legs.

Xander winced even as he made a mental note to practice throwing blades when he got back to Sunnydale. No man should have that particular injury inflicted on him.

* * *

Xander fell back as he took a punch that wasn't a punch. Of course the fact that it happened in his mind didn't stop it from being a very painful punch.

"Okay, I probably disserved that," said Xander as he picked himself up from the imaginary floor. "Surgeon has healed it by now, so its no big, right?"

"Surgeon heals mostly by transferring the injury to herself, and then healing her own body. She is female, while Mr. Worthington here is male, so there is no place that she can put that particular wound onto her body. While she can fix the injury with her secondary healing ability, the process will take two to three days," said Info Woman.

"And that is why it's a big deal," said Warren.

"Okay, really sorry to hear that, but you aimed that last shot at my head. What was I supposed to do, let you perform a lobotomy on me?" asked Xander.

Warren seemed to cool down as he responded, "I was thinking that if I hit you in the head maybe Surgeon wouldn't be able to heal you, and I'd be able to put someone out of his misery. I don't remember anything that happens here, so I didn't know how important your noggin is."

"As touching as this is can we get back to planning the breakout?" asked the Red Witch.

"Good point, I'm already getting migraines, and the freak doc has been giving me strange looks sense my last brain scan. If he's as good as you guys say he is it may not be too long before he figures things out," said Xander.

"It's a good thing we're almost done then," said the Indian Illusion.

"Yeah, all we need to figure out when we are going to do this," said Xander.

"It's going to be another week before a supply truck is due. I suggest that we make our attempt in five days, when the base is at its lowest supply wise, and there is little chance of the supply truck arriving early to reinforce the troops," said Info Woman.

* * *

Xander awoke suddenly to see Dr. Essex standing over him with a smile that sent shivers down his spine.

"Hey Doc, didn't know you made house calls," said Xander.

"Ah, you wish to talk, good. Let us talk, but not just the simple insults you have for me and the others here. Let us talk about who's mind you have been in," said Dr. Essex.

"And what makes you think I've been in anyone's head," said Xander even as he felt his stomach fall to his feet.

"Your last brain scan was quite conclusive on this point. You have been using your mutant abilities, and not just to block Martha from gaining entry into your mind. Now you can either tell us willingly or we can start inflicting pain on your cellmate."

"What makes you think I care about him," said Xander in what he hoped was a casual tone.

"Because its hard not to care for the person that keeps you alive when the guards beat you every night. Now just so you know Surgeon won't be healing him. His mutant power can't be duplicated, and he can't be altered to the type of being that could be controlled like the guard you met during your escape attempt. I can keep him here and alive, but only if you cooperate."

"Okay," said Xander in a defeated tone, "I'll tell you everything, just don't kill him."


	9. Jail Break

Part Nine: Jail Break

Xander drove down the road, being very careful not to catch the eye of a cop by speeding. He had been driving like this for five days, and it had worked for five days, so he wasn't going to spoil a good thing now.

"Where are we going?" asked Xanders companion. She was the stuff of teenage dreams, and everyday Xander had been grateful that he had been able to take her with him when he escaped.

"Home," said Xander with a small smile on his face.

"I know that," said the woman with a dazzling smile. "I just want to know where home is."

"It's a secret," said Xander.

"Come on can't you tell me?" asked the woman as she leaned forward to give Xander a better view of her cleavage.

Xander was about to reply when his body put out a strong pulse that seemed to cause everything to waver for a few moments. When he recovered, Xander pulled the car over to the side of the road and got out.

"Was that your mutant power?" asked the woman as she also got out of the car.

"That was just an alarm going off Martha," said Xander.

"My name isn't Martha," said the woman.

"It's what they call you. Considering how sick the people who work here are I think that they would call a brain in a jar by the name she had when she still had a body," said Xander.

"How long have you known?" asked Martha.

"Sense the beginning. As soon as I convinced Essex that I was using my powers to meet the women here while they slept, I figured he would try something. Escaping with a beautiful woman like you right after was too much of a coincidence, no matter how many times you told my brain to accept that I just got lucky," said Xander.

"How did you know it was me though?"

"The dog we saw the first day. I've been seeing that dog every day in my dreams for years now, it gave away the fact that I'm in my own mind," said Xander. "Having you urge me to tell you where my home is sealed the deal. I've had enough people in my head recently to know that home really means where I feel safe, and where my secrets are."

"Then you know they will just torture your friend now," said Martha while looking genially sad.

"Oh I doubt that," said Xander with a large grin on his face. "They have bigger things to deal with at the moment."

"Like what?" asked Martha.

"Like a full scale jail break," said Xander. "Want to come with us?"

"There's only one way I can be free," said Martha.

"Don't worry, I'll do it," said Xander. "Until then, lest play Mr. Rogers. Can you say 'Ka-boom' children?"

A large explosion came from deep within the facility taking out the power, and jarring Xander awake. He was alone as he expected every one of the guards that would have been posted in his room gone off to deal with the crises.

"I knew you could," rasped Xander from a mouth that hadn't spoken in five days.

The blackness that surrounded him was proof enough that everything was going according to plan. Info Woman had used her connection with the computers to cause a malfunction in the room where they were using Jono's psionic energy to power the place at the same time Jono really started to poor out the energy.

Of course not everything was working out, Quicksilver should have been here by now.

"Sorry I'm late; I had to teach a guard why it was wrong to feel up women as they sleep. Especially when that woman happens to be my sister," said a male voice from behind him.

Xander simply nodded. If Ms. Calendar had taught him anything it was that you don't argue with a gypsy about vengeance.

"How are the others doing?" asked Xander as soon as he was free from the restraints he was in. It had only taken Quicksilver two seconds to free him, but it had felt like longer.

"So far so good. As soon as Jonothon woke my sister up she used her powers to release everyone else from whatever the traitor used to keep them prisoner. If we can hurry we can help the people with lower powers to the armory," said Quicksilver.

"In a second," said Xander, right before he picked up Martha's jar and smashed it on the ground. "Now we can go."

"Why did you do that?" asked Quicksilver as he picked up Xander and began to run.

"I promised her that I would free her too," said Xander.

When they came half way to the weapons storage Quicksilver came to a stop as he looked at the carnage that was being created.

"Holly shit," said Xander as he watched a large robotic hand crush one of the mutants. They were prepared for men with guns, not large robots, things were no longer going well.

"Get the magnet girl here now Pietro, and have everyone with even a hint of telepathic powers tell everyone else about these things, I don't want anyone else to be caught off guard!" ordered Xander right before Pietro disappeared.

"You!" said Xander while pointing at a grey skinned teen. "Use your power to pull the wounded to safety. Loosing some of your skin won't kill you, and you'll keep your vital organs out of reach."

The ex-gangster simply nodded and began doing what he was told. Now that everyone had the memories of the time they spent in his head everyone knew how much of a role.

Of course that didn't mean that people didn't know when to abandon his plans when they didn't go right. So when a jet of flame shot out of the robots chest the young mutant was quite quick to retract his skin and seek some better cover.

"Of course it has range weapons," muttered Xander as he attempted to put out the flames that were on his pants. "What's taking Pietro so long anyway?"

"Sorry, not use to carrying people when I run, and I'm getting a bit winded," as he put down a green haired woman.

"So long as you keep up with the last minute saves I won't complain too much," said Xander before turning to the newly arrived woman. "Now if you would be so kind as to crush that thing like a tin can before it burns us all to death I will be eternally grateful."

"No problem," said the woman as the giant robot began to fold in on itself until it was the worlds most expensive paperweight.

"Nice job," said Xander.

"After keeping me drugged for three months it isn't nearly enough," the woman growled.

"Escape now, bloody vengeance later," said Xander before he turned to a now recovered Pietro. "We about ready to burry these guys?"

"The movers were just finishing up when I took her away, as soon as we get everyone out we can finish this."

"You heard the man people, time to ditch this place. Lets get moving," said Xander as he addressed the other mutants present.

No one argued as the advance towards the weapon storage area was abandoned. It had just been a ploy to draw as many people to the center of the building as possible; the further in the guards were the less of them would be able to get out.

The trip to the outside was fairly easy. Between Pietro's speed and the woman's ability to control mettle, there really wasn't much the remaining guards could do.

Once everyone was outside Xander called out, "Okay Dominic, time to burry these monsters! Everyone else try not to fall down!"

Apparently Xander had been very literal in his use of words, because as soon as he had called out to the elder man the ground had began to shake. Soon the ground opened up and swallowed the crumbling building, and all its human inhabitants, before closing back up.

For a long moment everyone simply stood there, as if they couldn't believe the place of their nightmares was really gone. The spell was only broken when a large blond bare like man turned and walked into the woods.

"Okay people, I think Victor has the right idea. Everyone start talking to each other; find out if you're going in the same direction as someone else. Thanks to the heavy lifters we have vehicles, but not enough for everyone to have their own," said Xander while gesturing to the military and civilian vehicles that were removed from the building before it was destroyed.

"So where you going off to," said a familiar voice from behind Xander.

"Jono heard about this school for people like us down in New York. I figure Secret and Surgeon should be safe there, along with all the other young ones. You going to come with us Swampy?"

"Nah, New York is too cold. 'Sides, been too long sense I've had a good pot of gumbo. You ever come down south, look me up, I owe you a card game," said Gambit before walking off to join the others who were heading towards the southern states.

"I'll do that," said Xander with a smile on his face.

* * *

"Sir, you need to see this," said a soldier as he handed a group of satellite photos to a General.

"Well, well," said the General as he stroked his graying facial hair. "Any idea how this happened?"

"Early reports indicate that there was a breakout at sight Beta. At this time it is unknown just how many escaped before one of them buried the facility," said the soldier while standing ramrod straight.

"At ease son, this isn't as large of a setback as you probably think it is. In fact I know just the place to replace what was lost," said General William Stryker as he looked at photos of a school that had a jet coming up from under the basketball court.


End file.
